


save a dance

by sunflowershayne



Series: mcu (mandon cinematic universe) [1]
Category: Smosh
Genre: Based on a Dream, Based on a Smosh Sketch, Break Up, Childhood Friends, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, High School, M/M, Not Really Shaymien? bc they're acting as original characters, One Shot, Prom, School Dances, Short One Shot, Teen Romance, mari's character is just kinda mean :(
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-12 15:15:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18449189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflowershayne/pseuds/sunflowershayne
Summary: everyone else at the prom seems to have someone to dance with, so when Brandon sees Marcus sitting alone, he figures he can take his chances. Marcus's prom date, Sachi, has something else to say about that.





	save a dance

Ah, prom. One of the scariest events of a high schooler's career. Even scarier when you blew your chance at going to Prom with a girl after everybody caught you pretend-fighting with your best friend since kindergarten over her. Also even worse when you're a closeted gay guy who's been harboring a crush on said friend since sixth grade.

Brandon McMillan knew those specific feelings very well, and he was currently standing alone in the middle of the gymnasium, surrounded by other, happy, heterosexual couples, dancing to some generic slow song about how in love they are with their significant other and how they'll be together forever, even though this is high school and statistically it's just not going to work out in their favor.

His eyes scanned the venue. He knew that Marcus was here somewhere, probably dancing with his girlfriend, Sachi. They'd only made their relationship official a month prior, but they seemed to really be into each other, and it was nice to see Marcus so happy. The really shitty thing about seeing your best friend happy with someone is when you have a crush on them and you just know that it will never be reciprocated.

The more he looks, the more he isn't sure that they're actually dancing. To be fair, slow dancing never really seemed like Sachi's thing, but Brandon at least expected the two of them to dance together at their senior prom. It would've been at Marcus's request -- he was way more sentimental than his girlfriend.

And then he saw another figure sitting at one of the tables near the wall, and in the dim lighting, he could immediately tell.

Brandon stepped through the crowd, taking long strides in order to go talk to Marcus. After all the shit he went through, he felt like he at least deserved to have a dance at Prom with someone he cared about. Jeanine was dancing with Leo Wilson, plus he had never been interested in her as a prom date anyway. She was more of a beard for him to wear until he felt comfortable coming out, which was pretty much never at the rate he was going.

He made it to where Marcus was sitting, and got a nice look at him in his suit. The color-changing lights made it hard to tell, but every now and again, Brandon could see that his tie was dark blue and his boutonniere was white, against a black suit. He looked really nice, and his hair waved in the right place to make it look windswept and natural. It was moments like this, seeing Marcus like that, that made Brandon remember just why he liked him so much. He was just so naturally attractive, not even just physically. He was a smart guy, with some of the best grades in their entire class, and he was kind to everyone he met, even if they didn't return the favor. It wasn't hard for someone to fall for him. (Well, Brandon couldn't really just generalize like that, so he supposed that it was just easy for HIM to fall for Marcus.)

Marcus looked up from his phone, and a small smile spread across his face. Brandon almost felt like he was going to melt at how soft and sweet that moment was.

Shoving his phone back in his pocket, Marcus asked, "Hey man! What are you doing over here? You have a date, right?"

Brandon nodded. He'd brought a girl named Hannah Zhao with him, but she had ditched him almost immediately after they arrived for her actual boyfriend. It was a whole dramatic thing of its own. Plus, it was beneficial for him too, because he could have a female prom date without the strings attached. The perks of taking a girl to prom that has a rebellious boyfriend were numerous.

"Yeah, but she's with her boyfriend now. Plus, I didn't really want to dance with her anyway."

Marcus shrugged. "Fair enough," he said, bluntly. Brandon wondered why Marcus had even asked about his date despite knowing that he was gay; Marcus was one of the only people that Brandon had ever told, and he had always talked about guys that his younger sister had met in her school that were gay, like he was trying to set Brandon up with someone.

"Well, why aren't you dancing, Marcus? You brought Sachi, right?"

The brunet let out a prolonged puff of air and then responded. "Um, actually, we broke up on the ride here. Turns out she's been cheating on me, with Aamir Patel. And Ethan O'Hara. And Jackson Sheffield."

Brandon's jaw fell to the floor. Sachi had usually seemed so happy with Marcus. Sure, she liked to party, and she liked to socialize, but he never thought that she would cheat on him. "Oh shit, man, I'm so sorry."

"You don't have to apologize. I mean, it's not your fault that she decided to string me along. And uh, I don't think I was ever really that into her anyway?" Marcus spoke like he was confused, or nervous. Brandon's eyebrow quirked up, intrigued by what his friend could possibly mean by that.

"Well, um... I know that you getting to dance with someone at Prom means a lot to you, and I was going to ask you, since you're all by yourself... if you wanted to dance with me? Just for this one song. And if you don't, that's totally cool, you don't have to do that at all, I just figured-"

Marcus opened his mouth to say something, but instead of him interrupting Brandon's rambling, the voice of a girl cut him off. "He doesn't, Brandon."

Brandon turned on his heel to see Sachi, dressed in a blue dress that matched Marcus's tie, a white corsage on her wrist. "I don't think I was asking you. I was asking Marcus," he replied, his tone coming across a bit sassier than he had intended it to sound.

She scoffed. "Are you fucking serious? You're just going to blatantly hit on my boyfriend like that, and then say that kind of shit to me when I call you out on it? He's with me, and he's not interested." Sachi reached for Marcus's sleeve to tug him toward her, but he moved out of the way quickly.

"I'm not hitting on him, I was just asking him if he wanted to dance. It's our senior prom and we're best friends, can't we just spend a bit of time together?"

"Um, no, not when I'm right here, and I'm his girlfriend, who he brought to the prom willingly. Come on, Marcus, let's go dance together instead." Sachi tried again, but Marcus moved faster again, reflexes quick and sharp. It was almost like he had trained himself for this exact scenario.

Brandon stepped in between Sachi and Marcus, ready to defend his friend's honor. "Well, we were talking to each other, and it doesn't really seem to me that you and him are dating anymore, considering the flings you've been having with like, 3 other people. Also, what kind of girlfriend ditches her boyfriend to slow dance with someone else?"

Sachi let out a laugh. "Oh really, Mr. Brought-Hannah-Zhao-As-My-Beard-So-People-Don't-Know-I'm-A-Big-Gay?"

Brandon had almost forgotten about Marcus's presence at that time, because he was trying his best to channel his willpower into not decking Sachi Hanagawa right in the face, but he suddenly remembered when Marcus stood up and grabbed Brandon away from Sachi, creating distance between the two of them.

"Okay, break it up. Sachi, I think I made it pretty clear that we're not together anymore. I broke up with you. You have 3 other people waiting in the wings for you. Plus, you insinuating about Brandon's sexuality when he hasn't ever said anything about it to you is rude as hell and I suggest you stop doing that right now."

The small girl started to laugh even more. "Wow, okay. So it's like that, huh? You delude yourself into thinking you broke up with me just so you can feel better about moving on to your little boyfriend here. I see how it is. Your fucking loss, buddy. I'm a great girlfriend, and maybe Aamir will see that."

"Sachi, I broke up with you because I'm gay and you're a cheater!"

Dead silence filled the air, save for the sound of faint, slow music in the background.

Brandon had never once guessed that Marcus was gay, nor had Marcus ever even hinted that he was, so this revelation was a bombshell. Not only did he have a huge crush on him, but now his sexuality aligned with Brandon's, and feasibly, if he returned the feelings, he actually had a chance.

Sachi huffed, crossing her arms. "Whatever, Marcus. I hope you're happy. I'm a 10 out of 10, and you just lost every single chance you had with me. You're gonna regret this someday, I promise you that." She grabbed the corsage off of her wrist and threw it on the ground, stomping on it with a black, almost too-tall heel.

"I wasn't going to have a chance with you anyway because I'm gay, but go ahead, I guess!" Marcus yelled after her as she stormed off. She flipped him off over her shoulder, not even turning another glance his way as she did so.

There was a big pause as Brandon just looked at Marcus, who seemed to finally relax his shoulders for the first time since Sachi had approached them, as he slumped back into his seat. It was almost cathartic, seeing him chew her out like that, watching their entire relationship unravel right before his eyes.

The song switched to a different, still slow tune, and Brandon grabbed a chair from the other end of the table and moved it to sit in front of his friend. "Hey, are you alright? I know how hard that must've been for you."

Marcus shrugged. "I mean, it was a long time coming. She's been stringing me along, and I just kind of went with it because I was scared. I... I envy you, Brandon."

Unconsciously, Brandon let out a laugh. "Why would you ever envy me?" he asked, genuinely bewildered. Marcus had always seemed like he knew what he was doing. He was always the encouraging one. He knew just what to say to make Brandon feel better. When they were pretend fighting for Jeanine's heart in that classroom, it was Brandon who was having second thoughts, and it was Marcus that reassured him into going through with it. It was Marcus that gave him the confidence to do things. Ever since they were kids, Marcus had always been the leader, and Brandon had always been willing to listen.

"Because you don't have to feel like you need to hide as much as I do. You didn't string a girl along under the impression that you were straight. You didn't hide yourself in shame after everybody stopped talking to us after that whole fight thing went down. You were able to tell me. And I wasn't. I'm jealous that you can do that."

"Dude, you just shot down Sachi. She was having her own ego trip, and you immediately shut that shit down. You're a goddamn hero."

The brunet gave a soft smile. "Well, do you want to ask about that dance again, now that nobody's around to fuck it up?"

Brandon felt his heart start to beat out of his chest, and he stood up. "Well, I'm gonna try and make it everything a prom dance should be, so I'm gonna try and woo you first with a good dance proposal."

He went on bended knee in front of Marcus and extended a hand. "Marcus James Watson, would you make me the happiest best bro in the world and dance with me to this slow song?"

"Who could refuse when you ask that kindly?"

He took Brandon's hand, and he immediately had the creeping, nervous notion that his hands were going to be clammy and make Marcus uncomfortable. Marcus's hands were warm, and it felt nice to have that warmth radiating against Brandon's palm. It was almost romantic, if not for the fact that Marcus almost certainly didn't feel the same way.

They stepped onto the dance floor, both of them unsure where to put their hands, or even how they should move, but when Brandon instinctively snaked his arms around Marcus's neck, and Marcus held his waist, they fell into a sway that felt right.

Brandon looked up at his friend, and asked, quietly, "So, what helped you to realize that you weren't interested in girls? Because I never really felt interested in any girls. I just want to hear your perspective."

"I mean, it's pretty difficult to say, really. I think... I think that I wasn't really interested either, but I wanted to force myself to be, because I didn't want to admit to myself that I was different than most other guys my age. Plus, I never really had a crush on many guys, except for a few, so I thought it was just easier to say that I just didn't find the right one rather than say that I was completely uninterested."

That was understandable, but Brandon was curious to know what kinds of boys that Marcus had been crushing on. "So, what boys were you into?"

It was hard to see under the dim, color-changing light, but Brandon swore that he saw Marcus's cheeks turn pink. "I, uh... I really liked Zeke Emerson back in eighth grade, and earlier this year I had a really big crush on Leo Wilson," he confessed, nodding in the direction of Jeanine and Leo. "That's partially why I wanted to fight you, I think? Because he likes aggressive people, and if he saw that I was strong, he might want to be my friend. Oh, and there's been a guy I've really liked since I was maybe... in third grade?"

Well, that was certainly a big dump of information. "Wait wait wait, really?! Leo?"

"I know, right? He's an asshole, I honestly don't know what I saw in him. He's probably treating Jeanine really badly, and even though she's really mean too, she doesn't deserve that. Plus he's a giant homophobe."

"True. But uh, who was that guy you liked back in third grade?"

Marcus's gaze flickered ever so slightly toward Brandon's lips, and that made everything suddenly click. "M... me?"

"Um, yeah. Uh... I get that you're probably not into me, since we've been friends for... well, basically forever. But, uh... I don't know, you're just, really fun to be around, and you're so smart, and... you look really nice in a suit. And I get that just because you're gay that doesn't mean that you're into me either, but-"

The blond immediately leaned forward, asking "Can I kiss you?" And when Marcus nodded in response, he connected their lips in order to keep Marcus from continuing to dig himself a hole. 

He didn't understand why the movies always portrayed it like fireworks going off in your head. It didn't feel like that at all. It was less of a fireworks show, and more of a tidal wave forming. Less dramatic and crashing, more-so steady and slow, leading up to more and more tumultuous circumstances. The first kiss was soft, and sweet, and Brandon almost immediately disengaged contact in order to make sure that Marcus was enjoying it as much as he was. He had never really kissed a boy, or anyone for that matter, before, so he was out of practice and had no real idea what he was doing besides just having his face against Marcus's.

"Hey, don't pull away so soon, man, I'm not gonna bite your face off."

Brandon's lips quirked up into a smile, and he leaned back into another kiss, now slower and with more confidence, now that it was clear that they both were happy with what was happening. 

The song shifted into an upbeat dance craze, but neither of them seemed to care, still swaying happily in the slow, romantic rhythm that had brought them together.

It was crazy to think that a staged fight for a girl led them to this moment, but they were here, and they were light, and they were high off of the start of young love.

**Author's Note:**

> follow me on tumblr @sunflowershayne for terrible memes about me being gay for damien haas as well as occasional good posts x


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